Botany
· A coarse, annual crop plant. The roots are fleshy, pungent and variable in size and form. White.
· Leaves: roughly hairy, the lower ones lyrate.
· Flowers: variable, about 1.5 cm long, usually white or lilac, with purple veins, sepals erect, lateral ones saccate at the base.
· Fruits: pods, lanceolate, cylindrical, 2 to 2.6 cm long, and terminate in a long neck. The seeds are separated by pith.

Distribution
Widely cultivated in the Philippines.

Parts utilized
· Whole plant.
· When seeds are ripe, harvest the whole plant, sun-dry, remove the seeds and dry again. Crush on use. Roots can also be sun-dried for use.

Properties
· Diuretic, laxative, tonic, carminative, corrective, stomachic, anthelmintic, bechic, cholagogue, lithotriptic, emmenagogue.
· The juice of the fresh root is considered powerfully antiscorbutic.

Uses:
Nutritional
A vegetable, eaten raw or cooked.
Excellent source of iron and good source of calcium; also a source of vitamin B.
Folkloric
· For diarrhea: boil the fresh leaves to concentrated decoction and drink.
· Juice of leaves increaes the flow of urine and promotes bowel movements.
· Root is used for piles and stomach pains.
· Juice used to expel wind from the bowels.
· Poultice of roots used for burns, scalds, or fetid smelling feet.
· Decoction of root used for fevers.
· Coughs: Decoction of flowers; or, boil 6 to 15 gms seed preparation to decoction and drink.
· Seeds promote the flow of urine, bowel movements, and menstruation.
· For patients with edema, bloated belly (ascites), pale yellowish face, and oliguria: used dried root preparation with citrus rind preparation (5:1 proportion). Boil to a concentrated decoction and drink.

Availability
Wild-crafted.
Commercial cultivation; ubiquitous in market places.